April 22 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Founded by former Sen. Gaylord Nelson, the original Earth Day put environmental protection on the national radar, leading to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. Forty years later, Earth Day has gone global. One billion people are expected to participate in Earth Day celebrations this month, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Tokyo, Japan.

- Advertisement -

That's all well and good. But planting trees and cleaning up rivers won't mean much in the long run if we continue to trash the planet with our meat habit. To truly "go green," we must start with what's on our plates.

- Advertisement -

Raising and killing animals for food wastes so many resources and causes so much destruction, it's hard to know where to begin.

According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, 30 percent of the Earth's ice-free land is now involved--either directly or indirectly--in livestock production. As the world's appetite for meat increases, countries around the globe are bulldozing huge swaths of land in order to make more room for animals and the crops that feed them.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), with 6.5 million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the (more...)